Auburn has hired USF head coach Alex Golesh to the same position, On3’s Pete Nakos reported. The Tigers just finished their season 5-7 after losing Saturday’s Iron Bowl to Alabama and fired Hugh Freeze midseason.

Golesh was recently linked to the Arkansas opening, which he denied this week and the Razorbacks ended up hiring Memphis’ Ryan Silverfield. Turns out, he was linked to The Plains and will take over an Auburn program looking to recapture national championship-type play in the NIL and portal era of college football.

Golesh just wrapped up his third season with USF, going 9-3 this regular season and sported a 23-15 record over the course of three years. His rebuilding job for the Bulls can not go unnoticed, considering where the Tampa school stood among other G5 schools with resources and support prior to his arrival.

Golesh has prior SEC experience as he was the OC and TEs coach under Josh Heupel at Tennessee in 2021 and ’22. Now, he’ll return to the conference with Auburn on a reported six-year deal.

Prior to his decision, Golesh said he had little time to process the news cycle and the pursuit of his services. He wanted to make the “best decision.”

“I’ve not had time with my family to process everything that’s going on,” Golesh said. “So, we’re gonna take some time to process this and figure it out. The administration here has committed in such a huge way to having our staff be here and continuing to build. But I think in all fairness to me and in all fairness to everybody that’s been here with me, I need some time to process it. I will, and I’m gonna make the best decision for the entirety of our organization.

“Make the best decision for everybody that came here three years ago and have stuck with me, this team, with us. But I’ve not had time to process it. I really haven’t, and I owe it to the entire University to process it the right way and think about everybody involved. I think if it was just going to be about me, I would’ve already processed it and thought about it. I’ve not spent the time that I need and that’s all I ask is that I get some time to figure this whole thing out. The first people that will know will be our players.”